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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27849698">Priority: Rannoch - The Later Years, and Reflections</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wyrm117/pseuds/Wyrm117'>Wyrm117</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mass Effect Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dreams and Nightmares, F/F, Futanari, Gunplay, Minor Character Death, Showers, Sparring</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:07:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,626</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27849698</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wyrm117/pseuds/Wyrm117</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Years after the events of Mass Effect 3, Shepard has retired from the Alliance Navy in order to live a quiet, peaceful life on Rannoch with Tali'Zorah. </p>
<p>This story will meander and unfold more or less on the fly, and include flashbacks to key events that might have gone down differently than the options that actually existed in the games. Tags will be updated on an ongoing basis as the story progresses, so keep checking the tags to make sure nothing happens that might be distasteful to you.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Female Shepard/Tali'Zorah nar Rayya</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>67</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Introduction - A Recurring Nightmare</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They don’t tell you how <em>loud</em> combat is. </p>
<p>Modern combat-armor helmets are noise-canceling, and their internal speakers modulate and filter the sounds they allow in from the outside, so in a ‘normal’ firefight, you never hear anything above casual dialog regardless.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, firefights rarely stayed at the ‘normal’ level.</p>
<p>Shepard’s ears rang with each blast of her shotgun, razor-sharp slivers of metal ripping through the husks, whose snarls and dying screeches only added to the din. Her kinetic barriers had long since ceased recharging, the emitters damaged, and her armor had been damaged into uselessness in several places, including the helmet, which lay cracked like an egg in the dirt several meters away.</p>
<p>The briefest of lulls in combat gave her an opportunity to eject the nearly-spent thermal clip from her shotgun, slamming home a new one and bringing the weapon up, just in time to fire again, the projectiles catching a husk in the chest just as it began charging its lethal electrical discharge.</p>
<p>She didn’t hear the footsteps behind her, as she could barely hear anything above the cacophony in front of her and the muffled whine of hearing loss, and so the husk that slammed into her back caught her completely off-guard. Tumbling into a heap, she twisted around, blindly firing her shotgun twice, and was rewarded with a death rattle as the weight on her back slumped off to one side.</p>
<p>Her relief was short-lived. Distracted as she was from the endless tide that she had been firing upon, the husks rushed forward without the stream of particles from her shotgun to deter them, and before she could get fully back to her feet, a reanimated fist slammed into her face, and she reeled, sprawling onto her back with stars in her vision, and her shotgun fell from limp fingers, landing out of reach. </p>
<p>The sounds of electrical humming filled the air, louder even than the constant buzz in her ears, and although her vision was occupied with the husk trying to continue bashing in her skull, she knew that the others nearby were about to release enough power to fry her several times over.</p>
<p>Gritting her teeth, she held off the husk atop her with one arm, and swept her other arm through the physical mnemonic to trigger a singularity, eyes glowing fiercely violet as the dark energy warped space, lifting the husks away from her and giving her a precious moment to breathe. </p>
<p>As soon as she got to her feet, and before the singularity could fade, she channeled the dark energy again, wreathing her entire body in it, and launched herself forward, leaping into the air and slamming into the nearest husk. The collision blasted the reanimated body away, sending it careening into the mass of other husks also suspended in the biotic field, setting off a chain reaction of shattering bodies as the mass-effect-altered husks destroyed each other on impact. </p>
<p>Shepard landed, and immediately fell to one knee, coughing violently, and red flecks speckled the ground below her as blood dripped from her nose. As the rush of using her biotics faded, she felt only a bone-deep ache, a heaviness that left her almost entirely unable to move. Her shotgun lay only a meter away, but she couldn’t muster the energy to lean over and take it.</p>
<p>In her haze, she didn’t notice that the brief respite she had earned with her expenditure of powers had already elapsed. Still more of the creatures had arrived, and her mind barely registered their presence before another blow knocked her to the ground once more, crumpled on her side and unable to even raise a hand to try and block the next blow.</p>
<p>A husk stepped in, raising both hands over its head, and then brought them all the way down, twin fists smashing down on Shepard’s unprotected skull.</p><hr/>
<p>Tangled in sweat-soaked sheets, the former Alliance Commander woke up with a gasp.</p>
<p>As she gradually realized that the last time she’d been in a fight for her life was years ago, her frantic heartbeat began to abate, and the white-knuckled grip she had had on the sheets eased. </p>
<p>“Shepard?”</p>
<p>The small, sleepy voice came from the bed beside her, and a warm hand patted its way across the bed until it found hers, and three fingers gave Shepard’s hand a squeeze. “What’s wrong?”</p>
<p>“Just nightmares, Tali.” Shepard returned the squeeze, turning to give the quarian a reassuring smile that she did not feel in the slightest. “Go back to sleep.”</p>
<p>A quiet non-verbal sound indicated that Tali was already well on the way to doing so, and Shepard gently released her hand, disentangled herself from the sheets, and slid out of bed. She glanced at the display and grimaced when she saw there were less than two hours until sunrise. </p>
<p>With low odds of getting any more useful sleep tonight, Shepard quietly stepped out of the bedroom, ducking into the guest bathroom to splash water on her face. While she was there, she realized that her cold sweat had left her rather unpleasant, and she stepped into the shower, turning it on without bothering to let it heat up. The cold water hit her skin, and she sucked in a short involuntary breath, but the brisk sensation helped her fully get past the lingering haze of the nightmare.</p>
<p>As she stood there in the darkness, letting the water cascade down her skin, she reflected on the body Cerberus had given her after her untimely death to the Collectors. It was good work, no question; to the naked eye, even a quarian eye capable of seeing the UV spectrum, Shepard’s body looked entirely organic. Perhaps more impressively, some of it even was. </p>
<p>She raised her right arm, slowly rotating it back and forth, clenching and unclenching her fist; it had feedback, as an arm should, but it wasn’t the same as the arm she’d been born with. Its function was identical, even superior in terms of durability, but it felt different.</p>
<p>It wasn’t the only change, either. A few organs, one eye, more than half her skeleton, and significant portions of her nervous system had all been beyond the ability of the Lazarus Project to regenerate within the timeframe they had. Instead, they had utilized cybernetic replacements, with pseudo-organic designs, to replace what could not be repaired. All in all, it worked. Shepard had come back from the dead, good as new.</p>
<p>Almost.</p>
<p>Her heart beat just a hair faster as her nightmare came back to her. The price of using her biotics to that degree hadn’t just been a figment of her subconscious; the cybernetic implants that had replaced almost half of her body didn’t have the eezo nodules that made biotics, biotics. Not for lack of trying, she’d been assured. It was simply impossible. Weapon companies had been trying to make a biotic-capable mech for decades, but as it turned out, you had to be organic to be biotic.</p>
<p>She still had the power, technically. Cerberus had even upgraded her with experimental implants, presumably informed by the experiments done on Jack, which theoretically made her a more powerful biotic than she had been before her death and rebirth. However, the extent of her cybernetic replacements meant that the more dark energy she used, the more undue strain would be put on her remaining organic parts. Levitating a box, or even a person, wouldn’t tax her, but any rapid acceleration, or immobilization of a resisting target, or nearly any other function that would be useful in combat, would leave her nearly useless afterwards.</p>
<p>With a sigh, she grabbed the bottle of soap, poured a small dollop into her hand, and began washing up. By now, the water had finished heating, and the bathroom filled with steam, the warmth and force of the stream washing away the last of her tension. It was still irksome to be awake early, but all in all, it was likely to be another lovely day on Rannoch.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Flashback - On Lazarus Station</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A flashback to the events immediately following Shepard's revival by the Lazarus Project, showing how things in this telling differed from the canon events of Mass Effect 2.</p><p>Includes a sex scene between Shepard and Miranda. Check the updated tags.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Wake up, Commander.”</p><p>“Shepard, do you hear me? Get out of that bed now, this facility is under attack!”</p><p>Wrong.</p><p>Everything felt wrong and confusing, the feminine voice speaking to her over the intercom was unfamiliar, and the only thing she recognized was the sound of gunfire and combat, which did not tend to be a pleasant thing to recognize.</p><p>Her arm responded to her desire to touch her face, to feel the lines of faint pain that crossed it, but neither her arm nor her face really felt like hers. </p><p>“Shepard, your scars aren’t healed, but I need you to get moving, this facility is under attack.” </p><p>Slowly, Shepard pushed herself upright, wincing as more of her body woke up, making her aware of more points of pain, and more unfamiliar feelings. It all worked like she remembered, and she was able to swing her legs off the bed and slide off into a standing position, albeit a wobbly one; yet, parts of her felt like they were only giving their best guess at what they should be feeling, a sort of hollow, incomplete sensation that gave her enough information to function, but not enough to feel entirely whole.</p><p>The room rattled as an explosion, closer, more powerful, or both, resounded elsewhere in the station, and Shepard’s self-analysis was put on hold.</p><p>“There’s a pistol in the locker on the other side of the room, hurry!”</p><p>It seemed the owner of the voice, who a vague half-conscious memory told Shepard was named Miranda, was close enough to feel the explosion as well. Shepard crossed the hospital-like room, regaining confidence in her movements with every step, no matter how unnatural it felt. </p><p>“Your armor is in the locker as well, quickly, put it on, grab the weapon, and get moving.”</p><p>The locker slid open at Shepard’s touch on the control panel, and for a moment, she was more surprised to see her own armor there than she had been to wake up at all. Her existence was puzzling enough; after all, she remembered quite clearly how she died at the helm of the Normandy. Yet she was alive, and so the mystery of ‘how’ could be answered later. The mystery of her armor, which presumably would have been damaged beyond repair in the explosion or fall to the planet below, was a smaller one, one that seemed more real, more immediate, and for that moment, it held her attention.</p><p>But almost immediately, another explosion snapped her out of it, and she reached up to her collar to unfasten the jumpsuit she had awoken in. It seemed like the person guiding her could see her, but now was not the time for modesty. Undoing the fastenings, she peeled the suit off her torso, stepped out of it, and froze, staring down at her new body, one leg still in the suit as she wondered if perhaps her revival had come with some side effects, and then wondered how she hadn’t immediately noticed this upon waking up.</p><p>In fairness, almost nothing about her body felt correct; it might not be so surprising, then, that she hadn’t noticed the added sensation of a very male piece of anatomy between her very shapely and feminine thighs.</p><p>“Ah...” The voice had noticed her hesitation. “I will explain everything later, Shepard, but you <em>must</em> get your gear and get out of there, right now.”</p><p>Combat discipline kicked in. In this moment, it mattered surprisingly little what Shepard had between her legs. She just hoped it wouldn’t get in the way of the armor’s fit.</p><p>She stripped away the jumpsuit and tossed it aside, pulling on the slim one-piece undergarment and then stepping into the armor. Fortunately, it seemed the extra parts she now possessed either didn’t take up as much room as it looked like they should, or whoever revived her had adjusted her armor to compensate, because the suit fit just as it always had. Her omni-tool lit up at her command, and, to her surprise, was still configured exactly as it had been last time she used it... which, according to the HUD, was over two years ago. With a command, she sealed up the armor, grabbed the pistol from the locker, and headed for the door.</p><p>“This pistol doesn’t have a thermal clip,” she informed Miranda as she made her way towards the doors.</p><p>“It’s a medbay, Shepard, not an armory. Someone’s hacked the security mechs and they’re trying to kill everyone, so you should be able to find someone who doesn’t need their clips anymore.”</p><p>The hallway outside the medbay bore clear evidence of combat, with marks on the walls, two destroyed mechs in one direction, and a dead man in a jumpsuit similar to the one she had been wearing when she woke up. He held a pistol in his lifeless hand, and Shepard crouched beside him to recover the clip from the gun, as well as the two on his belt.</p><p>“Good.” Miranda sent a data packet to Shepard’s HUD, and a destination marker lit up on her compass. “We need to get you to the shuttles and get off the station. Head in that direction, I’ll meet you there.”</p><p>“Got it.” Shepard loaded one of the clips into her pistol and moved in the indicated direction, approaching another door.</p><p><br/>
“Stay on your toes, you’ve got mechs ahead. I’m drawing as many away as I can, but you’re still going to need to fight.” Miranda paused a moment, then added quickly, “Shepard, don’t use your biotics, if you can avoid it. You were dead for a long time, and your body isn’t exactly the same as it was. We need to test them, some time when we’re NOT in a life-or-death situation.”</p><p>“Thanks for the heads-up.” It meant she had to reconsider her usual approach of ‘charge in with a biotic slam and handle it from there’, but she could fight without that. She’d made a point of training in simulations without ever using her biotics.</p><p>She held up her pistol with her right hand, and pressed the button to open the door with her left. Before the barrier had finished sliding open, she had both hands on the gun, acquired her first target, and pulled the trigger, blasting a hole in a mech’s head with her opening shot.</p><p>Two more shots dropped a second mech, and then she dashed two steps to take cover behind a stack of crates as the remaining three mechs finally returned fire. Shepard feinted to one side, then popped out from the other, firing five rounds in rapid succession to drop two more before returning to cover.</p><p>Seeing the limited number of shots she had left, Shepard holstered the pistol on her belt and activated her omni-tool, flicking her wrist as she extended a humming blade. The clanking footsteps to her right told her the mech was approaching, and she crouched, rolled out of cover, and then bounced upright again, bringing the omni-blade up, piercing the mech’s torso and carrying through all the way to the head.</p><p>When the mech stopped twitching, she dismissed the omni-tool, letting the machine crash to the ground. After salvaging a usable thermal clip from the fallen bots, she moved on to the next hallway.</p><p>“You’re going great, Shepard. Take the elevator one level down, then just keep following... shuttle bay...” Miranda’s voice began cutting out, static making it hard for Shepard to understand, and she could hear gunfire and a loud explosion over the connection. “Shit. Mechs closing... have to...”</p><p>“Miranda? Miranda, you’re breaking up.”</p><p>After another moment of static, the connection went dead. Shepard frowned, drawing her pistol again and moving down the hallway. Miranda had said she would meet her at the shuttle bay, and even if Shepard wanted to help her, she had no idea where in the station she might be.</p><p>The next fifteen minutes were a blur of hallways and explosions, as Shepard fought her way through the rogue mechs, carefully rationing her limited thermal clips by going for headshots whenever she had the chance, and finishing off the last one or two mechs in any group with her omni-blade. Along the way, she met Jacob Taylor, who was willing to answer questions, but being a soldier and not a scientist, didn’t have much to say that she didn’t already suspect; she had been put back together by Miranda’s team, and it had been a very long, difficult, and expensive process. He did confirm for her that her sacrifice had allowed most of the crew of the Normandy to survive, and told her that Miranda had the rest of the answers.</p><p>The only other living person she encountered en route to the shuttle bay was Wilson, one of the doctors who oversaw her revival. Shortly after saving him from a dangerous close call with another group of mechs, Jacob, hoping to win Shepard’s trust, revealed that Cerberus was behind the Lazarus Project, much to Wilson’s consternation. Much like the other surprises since she’d woken up, Shepard took it in stride. Once she had pressed Jacob for enough information to assure herself that he wouldn’t shoot her in the back, she simply filed it away along with all the other questions she had for Miranda.</p><p>With two allies, fighting through the mechs proved much less troublesome, and both of them knew how to get to the shuttle bay, which proved much more efficient than following her compass. Wilson ran ahead when they rounded a final corner onto an empty hallway. “Come on, this is it! That’s the shuttle-”</p><p>The door slid open, revealing a woman Shepard vaguely recognized from the same half-cogent memory that had told her the voice’s name.</p><p>Wilson stopped short. “Miranda? But you’re...”</p><p>With an entirely neutral expression, Miranda raised her pistol and fired a single shot into Wilson’s chest, sending him sprawled lifeless on the deck. “Dead?”</p><p>As Shepard leveled her pistol at Miranda, Jacob, while shocked, seemed much less defensive. “What the hell are you doing?”</p><p>“My job,” Miranda replied coolly. “Wilson betrayed us all.”</p><p>Shepard scowled. “Even if you’re sure, did he deserve that welcome?”</p><p>“He sabotaged the security system, killed my staff, and would have killed us.”</p><p>Jacob shook his head. “And what if you’re wrong?”</p><p>“I’m never wrong, Jacob.” Miranda’s expression shifted into one of smug superiority. “I thought you’d have learned that by now.”</p><p>Shepard’s pistol didn’t waver. “You should have taken him alive, gotten information from him.”</p><p>“Too risky. I’ve put too much time and effort into bringing you back to life to let you die now.”</p><p>Jacob rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ve known Wilson for years. Do you really think he’s capable of that?”</p><p>Miranda looked down at the body in the hallway. “Not anymore.”</p><p>“If you say so...” Shepard slowly holstered her pistol. “What’s the next step?”</p><p>“We get on the shuttle and go. My boss wants to speak with you.”</p><p>“You mean the Illusive Man? I know you work for Cerberus.”</p><p>“Ah, Jacob.” Miranda sounded gently chastising. “I should have known your conscience would get the better of you.”</p><p>“Lying to her isn’t the way to get the Commander to trust us,” he said quietly.</p><p>“Well, I will be glad to answer any questions you have, but I would prefer to do so on the shuttle, on our way out of here. There are still mechs roaming, and I’d prefer to get you out of danger.”</p><p>“Out of here, and to where, exactly?”</p><p>“Another Cerberus facility. The Illusive Man is waiting for you there.”</p><p>Shepard gritted her teeth slightly, considering her options. Or rather, her lack thereof. “All right. Let’s get out of here.”</p><p>Miranda turned towards the shuttle, touching her omni-tool to the hatch to open the door, stepping in and programming the autopilot. Jacob and Shepard followed along, taking their seats. Moments later, the doors closed and the shuttle lifted off, backing out of the station and swinging around, shooting through space towards their destination.</p><p>Once they were underway, Miranda took her seat across from Shepard, crossing one leg over the other. Shepard’s gaze seemed involuntarily drawn to the tight lines of the woman’s bodysuit, especially as her new position seemed to pull the material taut across her hips and thighs. A strange feeling, which included all the sensations she remembered, and a new, very unfamiliar kind of swelling, which felt uncomfortably tight in her suit.</p><p>“Well, for starters...” She cleared her throat and adjusted her position, shifting her legs farther apart to try and make space, though it didn’t help much in a form-fitted armor-plated suit. “Why, exactly, do I have... this?” she asked, with a gesture in the general vicinity of between her legs.</p><p>“Yes, that...” Miranda seemed to blush, just slightly, as she shifted in her seat as well. “There were practical reasons for it, as well as more tangential ones. Obviously, it was intended for there to be a period of adjustment and acclimatization after we woke you up, where you could get used to all the various changes to your body. Wilson’s betrayal threw all that out the airlock.”</p><p>Shepard did her best to listen, but now that the adrenaline had left her system, she felt an increasing heat in the pit of her stomach, and the uncomfortable tightness in her armor was only getting worse. “Yeah, an adjustment period... would have been nice.” Her gaze continued wandering across Miranda’s figure, even as she internally chastised herself for letting herself get carried away like this.</p><p>Miranda raised an eyebrow, considered for a moment, and then looked over to Jacob. “Jacob, would you sit in the cockpit for a while? I need a moment to talk to the Commander alone.”</p><p>“What? I-”</p><p>“Jacob, I asked nicely, but it isn’t a request.”</p><p>“Yes, ma’am.” Confused, but compliant, Jacob stood and moved into the cockpit, pressing a button to slide the door shut, leaving Shepard and Miranda in the passenger compartment.</p><p>Miranda uncrossed her legs, leaning forward to put her elbows on her knees. “Your body is full of a lot of hormones you’ve never had before. Part of the adjustment period would be helping you learn to cope with those. If you’re going to meet the Illusive Man, and especially if you’re going to go back to saving the galaxy, you need to have a clear head.” The corner of her mouth quirked up in a smirk, and she continued, “Take off your armor.”</p><p>“Take- What?” Shepard’s cheeks flushed, and the pressure in her groin seemed to jump in intensity.</p><p>“You heard me. I’m going to take care of your two-year dry spell, and then we can go back to answering any questions you have.” She looked into Shepard’s face, seeing the hesitation, and reached up to her own collar, unfastening the suit and pulling it down, away from her chest.</p><p> </p><p>Shepard stared, noting with the one small rational part of her mind that Miranda’s suit seemed custom-made, as she wore no undersuit beneath it. Beyond that, her thoughts were completely lost in admiring the supple curves of the woman’s breasts, each topped with a perfect pale pink nipple. Almost involuntarily, she activated her omni-tool, tapping the command to unseal her suit.</p><p>Miranda stood and stepped closer, reaching out to help Shepard remove the armor. Designed for operation in space, rather than ‘funtimes’, the suit didn’t exactly make it easy to access the necessary parts of the body, and Shepard had to remove it entirely. An unthinking groan escaped her when Miranda helped her slide out of it, the relief from the pressure being removed from the substantial erection giving her that same satisfaction as scratching a particularly bothersome itch.</p><p>While she was distracted, Miranda reached up to unfasten the collar of Shepard’s undersuit as well, peeling the clinging material off Shepard’s body, until she sat fully exposed under Miranda’s appraising gaze. “None of the scars tore, that’s good,” she murmured, half to herself. After removing her gloves, she ran her hands along Shepard’s body, tracing certain marks left by the reconstruction process, verifying to herself that the Commander was intact.</p><p>Shepard just sat there, breathing shallowly, gaze transfixed by the subtle rise and fall of Miranda’s bosom, as the other woman worked her way down Shepard’s body, until she knelt between her legs, finally giving the erection her attention, raising one eyebrow as she slowly wrapped one hand around the base.</p><p>“It’s funny,” she said as she began to stroke it, “We designed this for you. Down to the millimeter, I know the precise specifications of your body. And yet I’m still surprised by how impressive it looks.”</p><p>Miranda’s musings were mostly lost on Shepard, as the sensation of that warm, surprisingly soft hand on her new member sent thrills through her body. Her toes curled against the deck, and she bit her lip to stifle a groan.</p><p>Noting how strongly that simple touch affected Shepard, Miranda leaned in, and slowly exhaled against the head of the woman’s cock, sending warm, wet air brushing across it, in stark contrast to the cool, arid climate control of the shuttle. She was rewarded with another, louder groan, and a faint smirk touched her lips.</p><p>Leaning in closer and shifting her hands, she used her tongue to caress every inch of Shepard’s shaft, starting at the base and winding her way up. Shepard tried to contain herself, suppressing her twitches and gasps, but shortly found that an impossible task. As Miranda reached the tip, swirling her tongue around the ridge where the shaft meets the head, Shepard covered her mouth to muffle a moan, her hips bucking slightly towards Miranda.</p><p>She laughed softly at Shepard’s reactions, and smoothly took the slick shaft into her mouth, moving her hands to rest on Shepard’s thighs. Her head moved with slow, steady bobbing motions, going a little deeper each time. Even when the tip hit the back of her throat, she barely slowed, suppressing her gag reflex to swallow the shaft, until a final push allowed her to press her lips against Shepard’s smooth skin, the entire length buried past her lips.</p><p>Shepard shuddered as Miranda paused there, one hand moving to rest at the back of Miranda’s head, the other still covering her mouth, stifling the noises the skilled blowjob elicited from her. Her eyes widened as, rather than pulling away, Miranda simply began swallowing, effectively massaging the head of Shepard’s cock with her tight throat muscles, and the tight feeling in Shepard’s gut suddenly snapped.</p><p>Her hips bucked forward, pressing as firmly as they could against Miranda’s face, as she let out a quivering moan, body shaking as she felt the first climax of her new body, all the sensations she remembered from before, with the added spike of this new male sensation.</p><p>Miranda moved with Shepard, using her grip on Shepard’s thighs to settle her back down as she kept swallowing, not letting a single drop escape to leave evidence of what had happened. Only when she felt Shepard’s climax ebbing did she finally pull back, coughing slightly, and wipe her lips.</p><p>As Shepard recovered, she fastened her suit back up and put her gloves back on, taking the opportunity to survey the Commander. Privately, she was impressed by the woman’s strength. She had been dead for two years, and then conscious for less than five minutes before being thrown into combat. If her skills had diminished at all, it was not apparent based on her performance on Lazarus Station.</p><p>Shepard soon seemed coherent again, and her cheeks burned as she considered, with a clearer thought process, what had just happened. She accepted Miranda’s help to don her undersuit and armor again, and Miranda ran a comb through Shepard’s hair briefly to make sure nothing looked different than it had before Jacob had left.</p><p>“So,” Miranda said, once they both were seated again, “what do you want to know?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Dawn of a New Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Immediately following chapter 1, Shepard and Tali talk over breakfast and then get in some exercise.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shepard stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel, brushing the warm fabric over her skin and then swiftly twisting it up in her hair. She went through her usual morning routine, movements still efficient and brisk, even after years of being out of the military, though the products she used these days were far more expensive than what she’d had on the Normandy.</p>
<p>After freeing her hair and running a brush through it, and pulling on some form-fitting housewear, she left the bathroom and made her way to the kitchen, humming quietly to herself. The house, which she and Tali had built themselves, was spacious, and full of the very latest in domestic technologies. Being the savior of the galaxy earned her a lot of pull with the galaxy in question, so they’d had no shortage of free equipment and materials to work with.</p>
<p>She brushed her hand over a panel on the countertop, and the fridge opened in front of her, displaying a bounty of food; it might have seemed excessive in a normal household, but although Tali’s immune system, like those of the quarians as a whole, had improved greatly over the past five years, helped along by the geth modifications to their suits and a series of vaccine-like innoculations, the disparity between levo-based organisms and dextro-based organisms still meant that a quarian/human couple needed to have both kinds of food in the home. Levo-based foods wouldn’t make Tali as sick as it had during the party on the Citadel, but it wouldn’t provide any nutrition for her, either.</p>
<p>It made cooking twice as much of a chore as it would be for a same-species couple, but after a decade of military or para-military work (if you didn’t count the two years of being dead), Shepard appreciated both having the time to cook in the first place, and the access to fresh ingredients whenever she wanted them. With a soft, thoughtful hum, she assembled the ingredients to make two sets of omelets.</p>
<p>As it turned out, although the details varied wildly from world to world, most culinary archetypes had analogues across the galaxy. Rannoch had domesticated meat and dairy animals, as well as poultry kept for their eggs. Shepard appreciated the similarities, because, aside from minor differences in color, it let her and Tali have the Rockwell aesthetic of a family sharing a home-cooked meal, instead of just being two people ordering dishes from a restaurant.</p>
<p>Two sets of dishes were retrieved from the cabinets. Two bowls of eggs whisked together, two sets of seasonings sprinkled in, two bowls of fillings prepared. The animals of the quarian homeworld produced cheese more similar to Earth goats than cows, and Shepard purchased her own levo-based food accordingly, so the scents that hung in the air wouldn’t clash. The first rays of sunlight were just beginning to peek through the windows as she heated up the pans.</p>
<p>With practiced skill, Shepard poured the beaten eggs into the pans, one after the other, and they quickly began to sizzle, filling the house with the scents of breakfast. She loaded them with their appropriate fillings, folding and flipping the eggs to ensure an even cook.</p>
<p>It didn’t take long before she could hear the soft padding of feet coming down the hallway from the bedroom. She smiled, not looking up from the stove, and a moment later, slender purple arms wrapped around her waist.</p>
<p>“Good morning, Shepard,” Tali murmured, before pausing to yawn. After recomposing herself, she continued, “You didn’t come back to bed. Is everything all right?”</p>
<p>Shepard reached down and laid one hand over Tali’s, nodding slightly. “Good morning, Tali. I’m okay. The nightmares get less frequent every year.”</p>
<p>“But not any less intense, it seems.” Tali stepped around Shepard, leaning on the counter to look her in the eyes. “You had me worried last night.”</p>
<p>Rather than immediately answer, Shepard reached up to get two plates out of the cabinet, serving up the omelets for the two of them and stepping over to the table. As she sat, she let out a sigh. “No, they’re not getting less intense. I get just as terrified every single time as I did the first time I had them, the night I retired from the Alliance Navy.” Her fork cut through the eggs (perfect and fluffy, seasoned just how she liked them), and the warm, oozing cheese distracted her from the morose topic. She speared the bit of egg on her fork and popped it into her mouth, closing her eyes to let the flavor wash over her. When her eyes opened again, Tali was watching her, omelet untouched.</p>
<p>“Shepard...” Tali sighed, reaching across the small table to take Shepard’s hand in hers. Her fingers, which seemed slender and delicate, despite being thicker than a human’s, brushed across Shepard’s skin as she went on, “You don’t have to hide it from me. You were there for me in my darkest moments; it’s the least I can do to return the favor from you.”</p>
<p>“I’m not trying to hide it, I promise.” Shepard lifted Tali’s hand to her lips, gently kissing her fingers. “I just... hope it’ll be the last time, every time. I don’t want to talk about it, because I hope that the months between nightmares will stretch into years, and I won’t have to scare you in the middle of the night anymore.</p>
<p>“If it puts me in a place where I need help, I promise I’ll let you help. Most of the time, it just makes me need to walk around and cool off. I’m not letting myself dwell on the past, even when it jump-scares me in the dark. Water off a duck’s- waterfowl’s back; it doesn’t stick with me, I just have to break the surface first.”</p>
<p>Tali’s expression relaxed as Shepard spoke, and she gave a gentle squeeze before pulling her hand back and picking up her fork. “It makes me glad to hear that. You went through a lot, more than anyone can really understand. Even I can’t fathom what it must have been like to have the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders, twice. You’re strong, but I don’t want you to feel like you must be strong alone.”</p>
<p>Shepard reached out with her foot and brushed it against Tali’s leg. “I know I’m not alone, Tali. The very first time I tried to confront the Council, I did it alone, and I got nowhere. Then I found you, and suddenly I had all the backup I needed. You were by my side then, and you’ve been there ever since.”</p>
<p>The quarian blushed, a reaction that never ceased to amuse Shepard, Tali’s lavender skin darkening to a rich violet hue. “I needed you much more than you needed me, back then. I was young and impetuous. If you hadn’t found me, I would have died in that meeting with Saren’s thugs.”</p>
<p>“So it worked out for both of us,” Shepard said with a smile. “I knew from the first time you raised your voice at Ambassador Udina that we were going to get along.”</p>
<p>Tali broke into a short peal of laughter at the unexpected jab at the man who had first represented humanity when they joined the Citadel Council. “Keelah, he was insufferable!”</p>
<p>“How well someone got along with Udina, or didn’t, was a good barometer of how well I’d get along with them,” Shepard agreed with a chuckle. “Turned out he was even worse than I thought, but hey, it all worked out in the end.”</p>
<p>They settled into a comfortable quiet as they dug into their omelets, the only noise coming from the clinking of silverware and the occasional low sound of enjoyment from Tali as she ate.</p>
<p>When the plates were cleaned, Tali picked the dishes up and set them in the dishwasher, closing it with a bump of her hip. The machine beeped softly to acknowledge its activation, and a barely-audible hum began. She returned to the table, casually seating herself in Shepard’s lap. “So, what do you have on the schedule for today?”</p>
<p>Shepard’s arm wrapped around Tali’s waist in an almost automatic response to her presence, pulling her snug. “Well, I’ve got options. I’ll need to hunt at some point, but that doesn’t have to be today. There’s also apparently an issue with the fence on the west side, and I still haven’t looked into that weird noise the shuttle was making last time we took it out.”</p>
<p>“Hmmm... What about just taking it easy today? I don’t think I want you hunting or working on the shuttle when you didn’t sleep well.”</p>
<p>“Depends on what you had in mind for ‘taking it easy’,” Shepard said with a grin. “Sure, I didn’t get a full night’s rest, but nothing puts my mind at ease like having something to do with my restless energy.”</p>
<p>Tali returned the grin, pressing up against Shepard with a low hum that sounded almost like a purr. “I’m sure I can come up with something.”</p>
<hr/>
<p>Sweat rolled down Tali’s skin as she tightened her grip on Shepard’s arm. Shepard, close behind her, body pressed against hers, nodded encouragingly, murmuring in her ear, “Just like I showed you.”</p>
<p>She took a deep breath, then released it in a sharp exhale as she lowered her center of mass and twisted her hips, moving one foot behind Shepard and using the newfound leverage to pivot them both to the ground, throwing Shepard onto her back on the padded floor. Before Shepard could recover, Tali rolled into position half-atop her, trapping the arm that had once been restraining her in an armbar, pulling firmly.</p>
<p>Shepard resisted for a moment, testing Tali’s hold and seeing what options she had, then tapped her free hand against Tali’s thigh with a grin. “Textbook. You’re getting better at this all the time.” </p>
<p>Tali relaxed, letting go of Shepard’s arm and sinking into a cross-legged position, breathing heavily. “I’m glad you think so. This sort of thing isn’t my strong suit. I wasn’t taught any kind of hand-to-hand combat in the Migrant Fleet; if it came to that, my omni-blade would have to be enough.”</p>
<p>“Even an omni-blade is better if you’ve got training in how to fight in the first place.” Shepard rocked up into a sitting position, then hopped to her feet. “Want to see if you can put me on the ground when I’m actually fighting it?”</p>
<p>“An actual fight?” Tali’s eyes widened slightly. “Protecting myself is one thing, but you’re... well, you’re Shepard. The first human Spectre. Never mind the size and strength difference, you’ve taught me everything I know! How am I going to catch you off-guard?”</p>
<p>“That’s the trick,” Shepard said with a grin. “Besides, I’m not gonna go all-out. This is still instructional.” She put up her hands, sinking into a ready stance. “Come on, Admiral, show me what you’ve got.”</p>
<p>Tali let out a puff of mild exasperation, but mirrored Shepard’s stance, running their lessons over the past few weeks in her mind. Everything Shepard taught her would be expected, but at the same time, trying something wild an unconventional was just asking to make a rookie mistake. Possibilities danced through her mind one by one, considered and discarded, until she came to a snap decision.</p>
<p>She lunged forward, carefully following the steps she’d been taught, going for a straightforward throw to get Shepard on the ground. As expected, Shepard saw it coming, shifting her footing to prevent the trip and reaching out to block Tali from grabbing her. With a quick change of stance, Tali grabbed onto Shepard’s extended wrist, falling backwards as she swiped one foot across the mat, knocking her partner off-balance and giving her the leverage to pull Shepard with her, twisting them in midair so the larger woman took the brunt of the impact when they landed, and Tali had an advantageous position.</p>
<p>As she tried to follow up, nearly leaping to get into position for a lock, Shepard twisted her body in the same direction, sending Tali tumbling further than expected, landing on the mat on the other side of her target, as Shepard turned her twist into a roll, ending up on top.</p>
<p>Shepard hooked one arm under Tali’s knee, surging forward to lift the quarian’s hips off the mat and then tucking her knees in against the backs of her thighs, keeping Tali from getting any kind of momentum. She leaned in between Tali’s legs, pressing down on her shoulder with a grin.</p>
<p>Tali groaned softly and tapped out on the mat. “I told you I didn’t have a shot.”</p>
<p>“Don’t sell yourself short. Getting me off-balance like you did, that’s a good start. We just need to work on your follow-through.” Shepard relaxed, but didn’t immediately release Tali; she shifted their position, one hand resting gently on the quarian’s hips as she leaned in closer, brushing hair out of Tali’s face as she gazed down into her eyes. </p>
<p>The implications of their position, which had seemed entirely innocent to Tali only moments ago, suddenly struck her, and her cheeks, already flushed from exertion, went even darker. “Sh-shepard, I don’t think this is part of self-defense training.” </p>
<p>“Mmm, no, you’re probably right. Should I stop, then?” Shepard asked, a faint grin on her lips as she traced Tali’s jawline with one finger.</p>
<p>A sound halfway between a squeak and a laugh escaped the pinned quarian, and she wrapped her legs around Shepard’s hips, reaching up to pull her down for a kiss, mumbling against her lips, “Don’t you dare.”</p>
<p>“Thought so.” Shepard’s hand moved from Tali’s hips to her own, shimmying her gym shorts off, a proposition made more difficult, but not impossible, by the legs locked around her, which Tali showed no inclination of relaxing any time soon. As it slid down her thighs, her shaft swung free, brushing against her partner’s shorts as she continued shifting and scooting to get her clothes all the way off.</p>
<p>Tali, meanwhile, reached down, grasping her shorts in both hands, and gave a quick, sharp tug. The fabric split neatly at the seam, and she let out a soft, shivering moan as Shepard’s length found itself rubbing against her skin, rather than her clothing. </p>
<p>Shepard chuckled low in her throat, settling into position as she ran one hand up Tali’s body, fingers slipping under her sports bra to cup and squeeze one of her breasts. “That eager, huh? I guess it’s easy enough to fix them, so no reason not to take the quickest solution possible.” The transition from fighting to fucking had been quick, but Tali’s actions and expressions, as always, brought Shepard quickly to full mast. She brought her other hand down to rest on Tali’s exposed skin, guiding herself into position, and hummed quietly when she felt how slick the quarian had already become. Rather than tease the poor girl any further, Shepard wordlessly rocked her hips forward, meeting the tight resistance of Tali’s narrow entrance and smoothly overcoming it. </p>
<p>Both women let out a sharp sound, Tali sucking in air and Shepard expelling it; years after their first time, the initial moment of adjustment as Tali’s smaller frame stretched to accommodate Shepard never seemed to get any less intense. </p>
<p>A few heartbeats passed in stillness, Tali’s eyes looking up at the ceiling, unfocused, as she willed her body to relax. When the moment of pain had passed, she gave Shepard’s shoulder a squeeze, nodding as her gaze shifted to focus on her partner, smiling warmly.</p>
<p>With Tali’s go-ahead, Shepard began to move, rocking her hips back and forth to work herself deeper into the quarian beneath her, one hand resting on Tali’s hips, the other braced against the mat to keep herself up. Each push coaxed a low whine from Tali’s lips, and the involuntary clenching around Shepard’s length made the progress even slower.</p>
<p>They had long since come to the realization, from their own experimentation and consults with medical experts, that quarians are tougher, pound for pound, than humans. It had been a slightly awkward conversation, but Mordin had assured them that Shepard wouldn’t harm Tali unless she actively tried to.</p>
<p>Her fingers grasped Tali’s hips more firmly, and with a smooth, strong thrust, she hilted herself in her lover. The quarian’s breath caught in her throat, but her fingers dug hard into Shepard’s shoulders, and her toes curled, legs quivering as they squeezed tightly around Shepard’s hips. Shepard paused, giving Tali another moment to adjust, taking the time to gently caress her face, gazing down at her as she panted, unfocused and awash in bliss.</p>
<p>Tali’s expression gradually became more coherent, and Shepard began to move. One hand slowly caressed the smooth lavender skin, tracing her hips and abs, as she rocked her hips again, dragging her length across Tali’s inner walls before plunging back into her, gradually building up to a strong, steady pace, the slap of skin on skin resounding in the dojo, the only audible sound aside from the heavy breathing of both women and the high, gasping moans of the smaller quarian.</p>
<p>After several moments of full steam, Shepard paused, fully buried inside her lover, panting softly. “Let me just...” Her arms slipped under Tali, and, with a grunt, she rolled both of them back, standing up and holding Tali snug against her. She took a few steps across the dojo to press Tali’s back flush against the cool mirrored wall. The matching mirrors on the opposite wall created an infinite corridor, letting Tali see her own expression as Shepard resumed her thrusts, the quarian’s eyes widening and mouth dropping open in a moan as she clung tightly to the powerful human pinning her against the wall.</p>
<p>Their house, including details like the mirrored panels on the walls, had been designed specifically for Tali and Shepard’s lifestyle. As such, Shepard didn’t need to hold back; the panels were not fragile glass, but metal, despite the near-perfect reflection, and no matter how vigorously she knocked Tali’s hips back against them, they would not crack.</p>
<p>In the earliest days of their relationship, Tali’s body had been vastly more sensitive than Shepard’s, with the quarian typically having three or four climaxes before her lover finished. Partially due to her inexperience, but mostly due to living her entire life in a suit that kept her from directly experiencing touches and textures. These days, though she was no longer quite as easy to reduce to a puddle, she still found herself unable to match Shepard’s stamina.</p>
<p>She had, however, learned to keep her focus even while her body thrilled with pleasure. As she felt the first climax wash over her, she tightened her legs around Shepard’s waist, fingers grasping tightly at her shoulders as she worked her inner muscles, contracting the already-tight walls around her lover’s length, then relaxing them, timing her flexes with Shepard’s thrusts to attempt to maximize the human woman’s pleasure.</p>
<p>Even with that deliberate effort, she found herself losing the race between Shepard’s first peak and her second one, and by the time she felt Shepard picking up the pace with the telltale urgency that heralded her climax, she had already succumbed to bliss. Her body clenched up around the rapid thrusts, and she let out a long, wordless cry, digging her fingernails into Shepard’s skin. </p>
<p>Shepard gripped Tali’s hips tightly, slamming forward with the full force of her reconstructed body, nuzzling her face down into the crook of Tali’s neck as their bodies pressed flush against each other. Her hips bucked slightly, grinding up into the quarian as she unloaded her seed into her, panting hotly against her skin.</p>
<p>They stayed there for a long moment, breathing heavily as Shepard leaned into Tali and against the wall, and Tali slowly ran one finger up and down Shepard’s spine. Eventually, she managed to unhook her ankles, bringing her legs down from around Shepard’s waist, though she only ended up dangling, toes several inches from the floor, as she was still held up against the wall.</p>
<p>With a soft laugh as she saw Tali’s blush, Shepard smoothly shifted backward, pulling out of the quarian and lowering her gently to the ground. She leaned down to kiss her forehead, then her nose, then her lips, murmuring, “I love you, Tali.”</p>
<p>“And I love you, Shepard.” Tali returned the kiss, cupping Shepard’s face in one hand, but a faint dripping sound and the sensation of a small splatter on her feet made the blush return in force, and she stammered out, “W-we should go clean up.”</p>
<p>Without waiting for a response, she hurriedly made her way to the shower adjoining the dojo, leaving Shepard to follow her with another soft laugh. Even after all this time, and all their times together, Tali was still a sweet, innocent girl at heart.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Working Nine to Five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A comfy slice of the couple's life. Something simple and wholesome for me to kick the writing muscles into gear.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The early start to the day meant that it was still morning by the time Shepard left their home, even with the training and the shower afterwards. Her display of vigor and focus had soothed Tali’s concerns about her state of mind, and that fence wasn’t going to fix itself.</p>
<p>Gentle sunlight shone down on her as she began to trek across the land they had claimed together. When a couple consisted of one of the quarians’ most respected fleet admirals and the human who had single-handedly brought about the peace between geth and quarians (never mind that business with saving the entire galaxy from the Reapers, twice), the government of Rannoch turned out to be more than willing to bend the normal guidelines for how much land could be claimed by one household. It looked nice on a map, and it gave them everything they could want, room enough for a small farm, grazing fields for livestock, an orchard, even a river running through it, but it meant that going on foot from one end to the other was no small task.</p>
<p>There were easier ways to make the trek, of course. The shuttle, for one, if the weird noises the engine kept making were addressed. In less-overkill methods, they had a small hover-vehicle like the Hammerhead, albeit without the heavy weaponry, or the Rannoch equivalent of horses. Shepard, however, preferred to walk. Something about moving through the land she owned, she was responsible for, made her want to savor the experience. Besides, keeping active was important. She’d seen too many veterans get flabby, and she vowed to avoid that fate.</p>
<p>As a result, the sun had passed its zenith by the time she arrived at the problematic portion of the fence. She slid her pack off her back, setting it on the ground, and sat beside it to have a picnic lunch before she began her work. The packed lunch was simple fare, a sandwich and a handful of grapes, but the meats and cheese were layered thick between the toasted bread, and when she lifted it out of its container, she saw the simple heart Tali had drawn on the box beneath it. Anything would have been a feast, in a package like that.</p>
<p>Fortified by the simple meal, Shepard got to work, inspecting the fence. The problem, unsurprisingly, seemed to have been caused by a particularly ornery member of the local fauna. Rannoch livestock resembled Earth goats in temperament, as well as appearance, and given that they could be four or five feet tall at the shoulder, even a reinforced fence could be damaged by a particularly well-placed headbutt.</p>
<p>Fixing the fence was simple, but somewhat time-consuming. Even with enhanced strength and an omni-tool, removing the damaged crossbars turned out to be an ordeal. The very design elements that kept the fence functional against weather and wildlife (most of the time) made it difficult to take it apart for repairs. It could have been a bit quicker, perhaps, if Shepard hadn’t been determined that the repaired fence be indistinguishable from a new installation. No mere slap-dash jury-rigging would be acceptable here.</p>
<p>As a result, by the time Shepard finished the last touches to smooth away the rough edges left by the omni-tool’s welding, the sun had nearly vanished beneath the horizon, the sky a deep purple, fading to black at the far edges. She sighed, wiped sweat from her face, and slung the pack over her shoulder. The trek back home was just as long as the trek to the fence had been, though Shepard, fortunately, could see in the dark better than most cats, courtesy, again, of Cerberus. </p>
<p>Even so, her steps were slower than they had been in the morning. When her home came into view, she glanced at her omni-tool, and grimaced slightly when she saw that she’d already been awake for a bit longer than a full day. Granted, this particular day had started before sunrise, but that sunrise was less than an hour away now. </p>
<p>Shepard stepped onto the porch, taking care to step lightly, even in her sturdy boots, expecting that Tali would have gone to sleep hours ago. So it came as a mild surprise to her when the door slid open before she reached it, Tali standing behind it in her nightgown. </p>
<p>“Take a shower, Shepard,” she said with a faint smile. “I have food for you. Not sure whether it’s dinner or breakfast at this point, but it’s warm and ready all the same.”</p>
<p>She nodded, returning the smile. Dropping her bag lightly on a table just inside the door, and pausing to pull Tali in for a quick kiss on the way by, Shepard moved toward the bathroom, stripping off her work clothes and stepping into the shower without waiting for the water to heat up. It was a thorough but quick scrubbing, and she stepped out of the bathroom a few minutes later, wearing comfortable lounge wear, trousers that went down to mid-calf and a loose shirt.</p>
<p>A trail of flower petals began outside the bathroom door. Not roses, nor even the rose-equivalent flower on Rannoch. It was a fairly common, well-liked flower, similar to lavender in both scent and function. Shepard followed the trail, one eyebrow rising, and it led her through their bedroom, out onto the sizable balcony. Tali sat on the reclining couch there, with a small plate in her lap and two thermoses on the table beside her.</p>
<p>When Shepard arrived, she patted the seat beside her with a smile, and when Shepard obediently sat, she settled herself back against the taller woman, handing back the plate. Dinner... or breakfast, if one used the nearest mealtime as a metric... turned out to be something rather like a calzone, a baked dough stuffed with meats, veggies, and savory binding ingredients. </p>
<p>Shepard barely tasted it, other than to note that it was, as usual when Tali cooked, delicious. The sandwich had been many hours ago, and now that she had food in her hands, she found herself ravenous. Tali took the plate when Shepard finished, replacing it with one thermos, which contained hot chocolate. Not that cheap powdered mix stuff, either; Shepard had tried every powdered hot chocolate imaginable during her military career, hoping to find one to adequately satisfy her sweet tooth. None had.</p>
<p>This was the real deal. Actual bars of chocolate, and more than one kind, if Shepard tasted correctly, shaved into thin slivers and melted into hot milk. She let out a deep groan after the first sip, and took another, much longer pull from the thermos immediately after. </p>
<p>Tali chuckled softly, sipping from her own thermos, and reached up to the back of the couch to pull a blanket down, draping it over the pair of them and nestling herself snugly back into Shepard.</p>
<p>The Commander took the hint, adjusting the huge blanket around them like a tent, leaving only their heads exposed, and the hand not occupied by a thermos wrapped around her wife’s midsection, holding her closer. She could feel Tali’s heartbeat under her palm, and she smiled, leaning forward to gently rest her forehead against Tali’s head.</p>
<p>They stayed like that for several minutes, and then Tali shifted slightly, murmuring, “How does it compare to Earth’s?”</p>
<p>Shepard’s eyes opened again, and she realized she’d dozed off. It became immediately obvious what Tali meant, though. Tikkun, the orange star that Rannoch orbited, had begun to spread its light across the horizon, sunrise slowly creeping into view. It was a dimmer star than Sol, and a bit smaller, but Rannoch, to compensate, had settled much closer to its star than Earth had, resulting in a much larger orb when viewed from the surface.</p>
<p>“It feels more intimate,” she said softly, hand stroking gently across Tali’s belly. “Tikkun isn’t as harsh as Sol; you can actually look at it for a little without instantly risking eye damage. Being able to fully watch sunrises and sunsets feels almost voyeuristic.”</p>
<p>Tali nodded, one hand resting atop Shepard’s. “The first month I spent on the surface here, I watched the sun rise every morning. I could scarcely believe I was actually on a world, on <em>my</em> world. Seeing a sunrise, something we could never have had on the Fleet... it took my breath away, every time. ‘Intimate’ is a good word for it.” </p>
<p>Shepard kissed the top of Tali’s head, holding her close as they watched Tikkun climb slowly over the horizon, gradually banishing the darkness in the sky, stars disappearing into the warm blue as it spread above them. After the last vestiges of night had been pushed away, Shepard shifted, letting the blanket fall away as she scooped up Tali into a bridal carry and stood, taking her back inside.</p>
<p>Tali let out a faint squeak, and then giggled, holding onto Shepard as they fell into bed together. “Good morning, Shepard,” she said, in the tone and cadence normally reserved for ‘good night’. </p>
<p>“Good morning, Tali,” Shepard replied in the same way. She pulled the quarian snug against her, holding her as the little spoon in a close embrace, and both of them were asleep within minutes, the bedroom’s tinted glass keeping the rising light from disturbing them. They would rise in their own time, and get back to a ‘proper’ schedule by tomorrow night. For now, in their little piece of heaven and unbothered by external responsibility, they could spend all the time they wanted indulging in the simple pleasure of each other’s company.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Flashback - Approaching the Omega 4 Relay</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A two-part flashback, first showing how fem!Shep’s relationship with Tali began (normally not possible, but the power of boners is stronger), then showing the romance immediately prior to the ‘suicide mission’ at the end of ME2.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shepard stepped off the elevator into the engineering deck, the gentle hum of machinery surrounding her as she approached Tali, who was quietly but intensely arguing with the control panel in front of her.</p><p>Despite her apparent focus, the quarian turned away from the panel as she heard Shepard approaching, blinking once, active omni-tool still held up. “Shepard! What can I do for you?”</p><p>“Have you got time to talk?”</p><p>“Sure, let me just...” Tali’s gaze returned to her omni-tool, fingers tapping over it with more force that it strictly required. “Come on, you little bosh’tet!” She practically smacked the tool, then sighed. “Sorry... I’ve got a small fever, and I’m taking it out on the poor drive core. Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious,” she added quickly. “I got sloppy while doing some suit repair.”</p><p>Shepard’s brow furrowed slightly. “You’re sick? Do you need anything? Time off?”</p><p>“Really, it’s not that bad. If one stray bacteria could really kill us, we’d have all died by now. It’s not even really an illness; what we experience is actually an acute allergic reaction. If I get exposed to a human disease, I wouldn’t get that disease; I’d only develop a fever as my body reacted to the foreign presence. Depending on where it hit me, I could develop other symptoms; nausea, vomiting... everything you’d expect from being sick.”</p><p>“How’d you get sick this time, then?”</p><p>“I took some fire in one of the fights back on the Alarei.” Her hand moved to her upper arm on the opposite side, and once Shepard’s attention had been drawn to the area in question, she could see a subtle interruption in the pattern of Tali’s suit, presumably where it had been recently repaired. “Nothing serious, but I needed to open my suit to treat it. I disinfected properly, but one of the section seals was damaged, and foreign matter got out of the disinfected zone. It was a stupid mistake. You always check your seals before doing local treatment. Unless you forget. Then you get a damn fever.”</p><p>Shepard shook her head. “I don’t know if I could live inside a suit my whole life.”</p><p>“We’re always in our suits, even among family. The most intimate thing we can do with another quarian is link our suit environments; we get sick at first, and then we adapt. It’s our most important gesture of trust, of acceptance. I haven’t trusted anyone enough for that, except-” She stopped abruptly, her gaze, which had until now been steadily meeting Shepard’s, sliding off to a point on the floor about three feet to Shepard’s right. “Well, no quarians. I- You know what I mean.” Her gaze shifted back towards the Commander’s, though she couldn’t quite resume the eye contact, and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. </p><p>“Wait,” Shepard said, mostly succeeding in keeping a grin off her face. “I can’t tell under the helmet. Are you blushing?”</p><p>“What? No!” Tali spoke very rapidly, waving her hands in denial. “It’s the fever! It’s just that the tradition also signifies a willingness for, uh... intimacy.” A pause, and then she continued, at a more reasonable pace but still fumbling over her words. “I wasn’t trying to... It’s not always like that, it’s more...” She rubbed across the edge of her faceplate, groaning, “How did we even end up talking about this?”</p><p>“It certainly sounds like you were trying to suggest something, Tali,” Shepard said, the grin more evident now. </p><p>“What could I possibly be suggesting?” Tali crossed her arms, an edge of amused exasperation helping her push past the awkward hesitancy. “I mean, a young woman gets rescued by a dashing commander who lets her join her crew and then goes off to save the galaxy? How could she possibly develop any kind of interest in her?”</p><p>“You have nothing to be embarrassed about, Tali. I feel the same way about you.” </p><p>The quarian reeled slightly, eyes going wide, the only part of her face that could emote through the mask. “Really? I didn’t kn- You never-” She forced herself to stop, re-calibrate, and then her gaze flicked over Shepard’s body. “I didn’t know you were interested in women. Asari don’t count, they’re attractive to everyone.” </p><p>“I’ve never been disinterested in them. And recent developments have... hm. Let’s say they’ve skewed my tastes more strongly in that direction.”</p><p>Again Shepard got the distinct impression that Tali was blushing. “Kelly mentioned that Cerberus made certain... alterations, when they rebuilt you.”</p><p>“You’ve been gossiping with Yeoman Chambers about me?” Shepard asked, raising an eyebrow. </p><p>“It’s her job! And it’s not gossiping,” Tali said defensively. “She monitors crew well-being, so I... well, I might have mentioned some of this to her, and she might have insinuated that Cerberus made you... more than a woman.” </p><p>“And how does that make you feel?” Shepard put on an exaggerated impression of Kelly, making a thoughtful and insightful face as though Tali had come to her for therapy. The question, however, was sincere.</p><p>“It... I...” Tali stopped herself again, taking a slow, steadying breath. “Curious. But mostly, it’s not important to me what you... have. Man, woman, both, neither... it’s Commander Shepard that interests me.”</p><p>A small knot of tension Shepard hadn’t realized she’d been carrying relaxed, and she smiled warmly down at the quarian. “Thank you, Tali.”</p><p>“O-of course.” Tali looked away again, cleared her throat, and said, “I should get back to work. Thanks for coming by, and... talking.” She nodded and scurried deeper into the engine room, disappearing behind a bulkhead.</p><p>Shepard shook her head slightly, chuckling, and headed back to the elevator to her quarters.</p>
<hr/><p>Shepard frowned down at her datapad, going over the last preparations for the assault on the Omega 4 Relay. The door to her quarters slid open, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Tali stepping into the room, wringing her hands gently, looking down at the floor.</p><p>“So I’ve taken some antibiotics,” the quarian began without preamble, “as well as some herbal supplements that should bolster my immune system. I was going to bring music, but I didn’t know what you’d like.” She took the datapad from Shepard’s hand, setting it down on the desk, without a pause in her rambling, “And I’m babbling like an idiot.”</p><p>“It’s okay. C’mere.” Shepard reached out, grasping Tali’s waist with one hand and pulling the smaller quarian close to her, pressing their bodies together. Their arms wrapped around each other, each slowly caressing the other’s body for a moment, before Tali drew away, stepping back towards the bed.</p><p>“I just- I want this to work. I’ve thought it over, and I’ve minimized the risks, but I’m still nervous, and that always makes me talk too much, it’s a defense mechanism, and it’s stupid, and people who just see the helmet can’t see my expression can’t see what I’m-”</p><p><br/>
Shepard reached out, fingertips brushing along the underside of the helmet until they found the latches, pressing against then gently. The faceplate released with a soft hiss, and she pulled it away, leaving Tali finishing her sentence into the open air.</p><p>“What I’m... feeling...” Her gaze was intense, staring into Shepard’s eyes, and, after a momentary paralysis at the sensation of being maskless, she threw herself into Shepard’s lap, straddling the human woman and kissing her passionately, if sloppily.</p><p>The commander embraced the little quarian, returning the kiss, hands slowly continuing their work of divesting Tali of her suit, one piece at a time, unfastening clasps and tossing bits off the edge of the bed. With every new piece stripped away, every touch of Shepard’s finger’s on her skin, a fresh shudder of sensation ran through the quarian’s body. Her entire life had been spent in a suit, never once feeling this sensation, skin against skin, and now, it seemed, she intended to drown in it. After several minutes, Tali pulled back, breathing hard, her cheeks flushed a deep purple in contrast to the pale lavender of the rest of her skin. </p><p>Her eyes shone with desire, and she ran her hands over Shepard’s curves, cupping the ample breasts for a moment before continuing lower, gripping the hem of her shirt and pulling it up and off the commander, then applying the same eager attention to her pants. The tough, flexible fabric slid easily down Shepard’s thighs, with the human woman lifting her hips to help Tali along, and the quarian hesitated a moment, eyes getting even wider, when she saw Shepard’s ‘enhancement’ for the first time.</p><p>“Keelah,” she breathed, the blush on her cheeks growing even darker. “It’s bigger than most I’ve seen in the vids.” </p><p>“Seen a lot of vids, have you?” Shepard grinned softly, taking advantage of the pause to strip Tali out of the last of her suit, the slender young quarian entirely exposed. </p><p>“Just for research... I didn’t want to disappoint you, not when it might be our only chance together.” Her gaze didn’t waver for an instant from Shepard’s shaft, and one hand slowly brushed along her thigh, cautiously grasping the firm flesh, and began to stroke.</p><p>Somehow, the three-fingered quarian hand provided a vastly different experience than any human touch, and Shepard let out a quiet groan. “You could never disappoint, Tali...” she murmured, and she felt the quarian squeeze gently in response.</p><p>Tali shifted herself forward, bringing her face closer to Shepard’s member, and bit her lip softly. Mordin’s warnings notwithstanding, she had to know. Pale purple lips parted, and she took the human cock into her mouth, a hard shudder running down her spine at the alien taste as her tongue slowly fluttered against the underside of its tip.</p><p>Shepard sucked in a breath, one hand moving to the back of Tali’s head, gently running her fingers through the quarian’s hair. Only a deliberate effort of will kept her from gripping the girl and indulging herself; given their size difference and Tali’s inexperience, such vigorous activity had a chance to actually break the girl.</p><p>Soft, muffled moaning noises arose as Tali, ever the fast learner, figured out the ideal technique for oral sex. Her lips pressed firmly around Shepard’s girth as she slowly bobbed her head, sucking at the length and swirling her tongue around the tip. Her eyes widened again when she felt the tip grind against the back of her throat and realized that she had taken only a bit more than half of the full shaft past her lips. She slowly pulled away, panting hotly, and she looked into Shepard’s eyes... and found herself unable to speak. Inwardly she cursed her shyness, even now, even having already come so close, but she couldn’t muster the words.</p><p>She needn’t have worried. Shepard saw the emotion in her eyes, saw the quarian’s face, normally hidden almost entirely, now so expressive. She leaned in, scooping Tali up and laying the girl on her back, positioning herself between smooth, lavender legs, as she leaned in to kiss her again, one hand resting on Tali’s thigh, the other slowly stroking her face.</p><p>Tali trembled like a leaf beneath the powerful human woman, but she returned the kiss, wordlessly assuring Shepard that her nerves were not a protest, her tension not resistance. She wanted this as badly as the commander did, maybe more, even if she could not calm the racing of her heart.</p><p>Shepard broke the kiss, gazing down at Tali, wanting to watch the girl’s expression. She lined herself up, shivering slightly as she felt Tali’s heat against her tip, and slowly began rocking her hips, pushing forward. The resistance to her intrusion was intense, the virgin entrance beneath her tight, both from inexperience and the tense, strong muscles of the quarian’s body, but Shepard had strength and persistence to spare. </p><p>Slow, firm motions, repeated over and over and over again, shifting angle or force as needed, gradually stretched the tight entrance, and, sensing an opportunity, Shepard gave a short, powerful thrust. The tip of her cock finally penetrated the tight folds, and Tali, beneath her, let out a sharp cry, her fingers digging tightly into Shepard’s arms as she shuddered heavily, eyes rolling back in her head.</p><p>The commander paused there, teeth gritted slightly at the almost-uncomfortable tightness around her, slowly placing kisses over Tali’s neck and collarbone as she allowed the quarian to adjust. After what felt like an eternity, but which may have been as little as a few seconds, Tali murmured, “I’m alright, Shepard. Keep going.”</p><p>She needed no second invitation. Shepard adjusted her weight, and began slowly rocking herself, pushing just a little deeper into the impossibly tight alien beneath her with every thrust. Tali shuddered and whined beneath her, fingers scratching harmlessly over Shepard’s back, toes curling, clutching at the sheets as she was filled, more than she could have imagined possible. </p><p>Something inside Tali’s mind wanted to be more active, more of a partner, but the sensations assaulting her mind kept her from forming that desire into even a coherent though, never mind action. Every time she thought she had a handle on what Shepard could make her feel, a fresh jolt of ecstasy shot through her, as her lover’s cock pressed into an even deeper, more intimate place. She managed to lift her legs off the bed, to wrap them around Shepard’s hips, before her first climax hit, and then sensible thought went entirely out the window.</p><p>Shepard grinned softly as she felt Tali tense and writhe beneath her. Protein difference or no, quarians still hit their peak in much the same way as humans did, it seemed. And Tali’s first-ever orgasm proved to be one she’d never forget. One hand grasped Tali’s hip, lifting her slightly as she began to pick up the pace a little; the girl’s body was adjusting, and the heat and lubrication of her arousal made it easier for Shepard to move inside her, thrusting at a pace that she would still have called slow, but which seemed to the girl beneath her to be positively break-neck.</p><p>Tali saw stars as Shepard thrust into her harder, faster, her oversensitive body sending a near-constant rush of electric bliss to her mind as her commander, her lover, plunged into her, again and again. Her fingers dug into Shepard’s skin as tightly as they could, and she let out quavering moans each time their bodies fully joined. Tender and inexperienced as she was, a second climax followed hard on the heels of the first, and she nearly blacked out, body stiffening as a low cry escaped her, pleasure threatening to overwhelm her entirely.</p><p>As Tali shuddered beneath her, Shepard slowed again, shifting their positions and pulling out of the girl, giving her a moment to catch her breath. She rolled Tali onto her side, and settled snugly into place against her back, the big spoon to Tali’s very small one. One arm hooked under Tali’s knee, lifting the girl’s leg up, into the air, spreading her wide as the commander smoothly, powerfully, reclaimed the tight pussy she’d briefly vacated. </p><p>She held Tali tight against her own body as she thrust into the girl, each movement calculated and precise, driving her hips flush against the quarian’s each time her shaft disappeared into Tali’s folds. Short, gasping sounds of pleasure escaped her lover, and Shepard kept it up, experimenting with minute adjustments of angle and power, finding the perfect thrust to make the quarian in her arms truly lose herself. </p><p>The quarian hit a third climax within the first minute, and then again, just a few minutes later, as Shepard pounded into her like a sex machine, hitting the tight young girl in just the right ways. Even the commander’s endurance had its limits, and in the end, Tali’s fourth orgasm, and the shuddering spasms of her inner walls around Shepard’s length pushed her over the edge. She drove herself fully into Tali, tightening her grasp, pressing their bodies as close together as possible, and a deep, almost-growling moan slipped from her lips as she pumped her young lover full of her hot seed.</p><p>Several long minutes passed after that. Tali seemed only dubiously conscious, and Shepard just stayed there with her, slowly running her hands along the pale alien skin, eyes half-closed. When Tali finally seemed to stir, she smiled faintly, propping herself up on one elbow to look down at her, murmuring, “How do you feel?”</p><p>“Keelah...” Tali breathed, eyes still unfocused, but her hand sought out Shepard’s, squeezing it tightly. “It’s nothing like the nerve stims,” she said softly. “It is... you are... incredible.” </p><p>Shepard smiled faintly, shifting them both and turning Tali to face her, pulling the quarian into a warm embrace, resting her forehead against the smaller woman’s. </p><p>Tali settled easily into the new position, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around Shepard. Before she drifted off, she spoke out a brief command, telling her omni-tool to alert her in two hours, when her antibiotics would start to wear off. She would need to begin the disinfecting and purging process then, but for now, she intended to spend every moment she could in Shepard’s arms.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>"Just so you know, I'm running a fever, I have a nasty cough, and my sinuses are filled with something I can't even describe... And it was totally worth it."</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you enjoy this concept, feel free to comment, leave Kudos, or both! It's my first time writing a fic for anyone's eyes but my own, so I'm entirely unsure how this is gonna go.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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